Recruitment methods for intervention research in bereavement-related depression. Five years' experience.
The authors compared various strategies for recruiting elderly subjects with bereavement-related depression into a randomized clinical trial. Over 5 years, they empaneled 65 patients from a total of 441 subjects screened (14.7%). Response to media advertisements was the single most effective strategy (54% of subjects). Another effective, but labor-intensive, strategy was using letters to bereaved spouses found through newspaper obituaries (14%); another 14% were referred by friends who had seen study advertisements. Information letters to healthcare providers yielded no study participants. Pathways to study participation did not differ as a function of race or gender and did not influence study retention or remission rates. Our experience suggests that successful intake depends on a personal mode of recruitment.
Schlernitzauer
M
M
Mental Health Clinical Research Center for the Study of Late-Life Mood Disorders, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, PA 15213, USA.
Bierhals
A J
AJ
Geary
M D
MD
Prigerson
H G
HG
Stack
J A
JA
Miller
M D
MD
Pasternak
R E
RE
Reynolds
C F
CF
D000329:Advertising; D000368:Aged; D001601:Bereavement; D015709:Correspondence as Topic; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009524:Newspapers as Topic; D018579:Patient Selection; D010414:Pennsylvania; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D012017:Referral and Consultation